Terror by Day

“The heroic mujahedeen carried out a blessed attack in London, and now Britain is burning with fear and terror, from north to south, east to west.”

“We warned the British government repeatedly. We have carried out our promise and carried out a military attack in Britain after great efforts by the heroic mujahedeen over a long period to ensure its success.”

- From the Secret Organization of Al Qaeda in Europe’s statement of responsibility for today’s terrorist attacks in London

The rhetoric is all too familiar. Islamic terrorists aligned with Osama bin Laden today proudly boasted their murder of innocents.

It’s a litany of terror that pre-dates September 11, 2001. It’s a litany that elevates murder and terror to a sacrament of sorts:

“The ruling to kill the Americans and their allies--civilians and military--is an individual duty for every Muslim who can do it in any country in which it is possible to do it.”

- Osama bin Laden – From his fatwah issued on February 23, 1998

The terror network that was fathered by Osama bin Laden has made their intentions clear over and over and over. What sane humanity rejects they intend to implement with beheadings, suicide bombings, and terror.

They have made their intentions clear, and almost everyone in the civilized world understands. War has been declared on civilization and civilization must respond. The civilized world understands that this is a war with many fronts. It stretches from New York to Washington, D.C. It stretches from Madrid to London and from Nairobi to the Philippines. It’s a global war and civilization’s enemies have global aims.

The civilized response has been swift, and for the most part it’s been direct. Tony Blair condemned the attacks with these words:

“It is through terrorism that the people that have committed this terrible act express their values, and it is right at this moment that we demonstrate ours. I think we all know what they are trying to do - they are trying to use the slaughter of innocent people to cower us, to frighten us out of doing the things that we want to do, of trying to stop us going about our business as normal, as we are entitled to do, and they should not, and they must not, succeed.”

“When they try to intimidate us, we will not be intimidated. When they seek to change our country or our way of life by these methods, we will not be changed. When they try to divide our people or weaken our resolve, we will not be divided and our resolve will hold firm. We will show, by our spirit and dignity, and by our quiet but true strength that there is in the British people, that our values will long outlast theirs. The purpose of terrorism is just that, it is to terrorize people, and we will not be terrorized.”

George Bush had this to say:

“On the one hand, we got people here who are working to alleviate poverty and to help rid the world of the pandemic of AIDS and that are working on ways to have a clean environment. And on the other hand, you've got people killing innocent people,” George Bush has declared. “And the contrast couldn't be clearer between the intentions and the hearts of those of us who care deeply about human rights and human liberty, and those who kill, those who've got such evil in their heart that they will take the lives of innocent folks.”

“The war on terror goes on. I was most impressed by the resolve of all the leaders in the room. Their resolve is as strong as my resolve. And that is, we will not yield to these people, will not yield to the terrorists. We will find them. We will bring them to justice,” U.S. President has added. “And at the same time we will spread an ideology of hope and compassion that will overwhelm their ideology of hate.”

And Senator John McCain shared these thoughts on the events in London:

“Well, certainly the display of courage and stoicism of the British people this morning would indicate that as far as the British people are concerned. They think they can frighten us. They think they can scare us into some kind of acquiesence and they think they can frighten the Europeans,” he said.”

“It should remind us all what's at stake here. It's not just for America. It's everything we believe in for all people all over the world,” McCain said of Islamic fundamentalists. “They want to go back to soccer stadiums where they hang women up from the goal post because they showed their ankle. This is an enemy that we must destroy in battlefields all over the world.”

The world, for the most part, would add a loud chorus of “Amens” to what these leaders have said. The civilized world will not be intimidated. But, unfortunately, there are still some who live and breathe a different reality. Jamie Rubin, former Assistant Secretary of State under Bill Clinton, blithely reassured the networks and cable news outlets that the attack in London today had nothing to do with Iraq. He must have missed the following statement from Osama bin Laden on December 27, 2004 to the so called “insurgents” in Iraq killing the innocent with the same gusto that bin Laden’s minions did on September 11th, in Madrid, and now in London:

“Become diligent in carrying out martyrdom operations; these operations, praise be to God, have become a great source of terror for the enemy…These are the most important operations.”

- Osama bin Laden – Praising terrorist attacks in Iraq and welcoming Musab Al Zarqawi into the bin Laden family/organization of terror

If Osama bin Laden sees Iraq as part of the war on terror, why wouldn’t the former Assistant Secretary of State? The answer, of course, is politics.

But, all things considered, that was just a minor political misstep. I suspect that in the days to come politicians will be making many more. They’ll be trying to assess blame when the terrorists have already told us they’re responsible. And I’m sure there will be many Democrats who will be linking these attacks to our “misguided” policies in Iraq. I guess that’s to be expected in today’s political climate.

But, beyond the attacks themselves, what I found most disturbing was the media’s reporting of the mood and nuance of the day. CNN’s Soledad O’Brien led the pack of media Chicken Littles. She was almost breathless as she reported. As I listened I got the sense that it was just about time for the British to hoist the white flag. She’s too young to remember, and perhaps she never studied much about World War Two, because if she had she would or could have learned something about British resolve.

In the throes of the Blitz of London from November of 1940 to February of 1941, Adolph Hitler’s Luftwaffe tried to make good on Der Fuhrer’s promise to “wring England’s neck like a chicken.” During that six month period 43,000 residents of London perished and close to 140,000 were injured. But the British people refused to surrender. Speaking to the Canadian Parliament, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill replied to Hitler when the Luftwaffe failed to bring England to its knees – “Some neck…..Some chicken.”

Today’s attacks were, without doubt, awful. But the terrorists, cowards to a man, have misstated their case. Britain is not “burning with fear and terror.” Media reports notwithstanding, the people of Britain and the people of the civilized world will prevail. The people of Britain will mourn their losses and we will mourn with them. But we will all go on! There is no doubt in the mind of civilized men who will win this war. The media and political operatives may fail to see the resolve and they may fail to see that this is a global war with many fronts. But civilized men don’t. This war will have an end and the right side, the civilized side, will certainly prevail!